It’s not the technology, it’s the people. Tips on using Basecamp.

3 February

I’ve used Basecamp for a while now - and recommended it to many - so I thought I’d document some of my learnings on how to make it work for the average small company. This is not a definitive list and it doesn’t mean it’s all been a success, but if you are reading this and thinking about trialling Basecamp or are struggling with it then the following points should help.

You’ve got to live in it

I think for project managers it’s a great tool. You’ll instantly take to it and begin to live in it (rather than in email). The problem is getting others to take a similar approach, as it’s not their role to be organised. It takes change. The first thing I’d recommend is to encourage people to use the global to do list. If users slowly get used to seeing a list of things to do in one place then it makes getting off to a good start in the morning a bit easier.

Another thing I’ve noticed is that emails alerts can slowly turn into spam. However, be aware that this is no different from internal project emails that just get ignored - or skimmed over. The problem is email, not Basecamp. If users spend more time in Basecamp than email it gets a whole lot easier.

Appoint a product champion

No software is a success without someone to lead and educate users. Cloud and SaaS tools are no different. Assign an owner and make them responsible for adoption.

Correct mistakes

I’ve seen this so many times with anything new, people don’t correct mistakes. Normally they are too polite. If someone is doing something wrong tell them how to do it better. It’s not a crime to make their life easier! Also, don’t kid yourself that setting rules is going to work. Change, especially when it’s “new rules”, doesn’t go down well. But you’ve got to suggest alternative ways, lead by example, have empathy and don’t be a “you must do it this way” pain in the ass.

Use the message board first for collaboration. Not email.

The first thing that many people do - especially the project managers is create to do lists. That’s because they are “organising”. Whilst you need to do this, I think a great place to start getting users used to the change is using the message board. It’s simple and people understand adding comments. When you start using Basecamp you should be thinking “how do I collaborate” not “how do I organise”.

Use it as document and asset management

What I think Basecamp is brilliant for is uploading files and asking for feedback. People instantly assume you’re the file owner, so they add feedback (in comments) to where you uploaded the document or file. Multiple editors of an online document isn’t quite there yet (Google Docs is good though), however I suspect Microsoft will crack it soon, but until then if you are collaborating over a Word document, Excel file or another file type then tasks and messages in Basecamp offer a good way to do this. Basecamp’s no document management system, but at least you’ll have your staff and important documents, files, images, etc. in the one place. One point though, Basecamp isn’t a replacement for file servers, document management systems or asset management systems. If you collaborate over a lot of video, images, proposals, etc. then there are better tools. For simple project asset management and collaboration then Basecamp is good enough.

Build it into your processes or discussions

I use Basecamp and Highrise in meetings and discussions all the time. Clients use it too. To make it work, you’ve got to build it into everyday processes. For example, in project meetings project Basecamp on to the wall or display it on screen. Put notes into Basecamp and assign tasks in the meeting. This is a good visual mechanism for people to see that Basecamp is where they need to go if they want project information - or to see who is doing what.

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In this post, I’ve tried to avoid covering how to use every feature. Instead, I’ve tried to give you a list of the key things you need to think about when using it. It should be fairly obvisous how to use milestone and time tracking features. Some of my points are fairly generic to many business applications. The thing that makes any software a success is the people using it. There has got to be leadership too. The application won’t do it for you.

Basecamp, of course, has limitations. In a follow up post, I’ll cover some of them and you can or can’t live without them.

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CAN I HELP? If you’d like to discuss more on the points mentioned above then please feel free to get in touch. I’d be happy to help you figure out what works best for you.

Tags: 37signals, basecamp, business development, product managers, productivity, saas, tips, software

Categories: Cloud, Product design, Project Management, Writing

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